Spring Breakers Party Stateside

More spring breakers are sipping their Coronas domestically this year, the AP reports. Mexico is a staple hotspot, but widespread reports of drug wars in border towns and tightened security at US entry points have convinced many college vacationers to remain stateside. In places like Texas's South Padre Island, students are skipping the usual excursions to nearby Matamoros.

Mexico recently deployed soldiers to patrol checkpoints, not to crack down on kids but to keep visitors and residents safe, said one tourism official. Still, slumping demand forced one woman who runs a shuttle service in South Padre to cancel night rides to Matamoros. "I'm not about the border anymore," said one spring breaker. "It's not safe." (More spring break stories.)